Boy found dead in suitcase in Indiana identified; mom and another woman charged
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A boy found dead inside a suitcase in southern Indiana six months ago has been identified as a 5-year-old from Atlanta, and his mother and another woman are facing charges in his death.
Cairo Ammar Jordan's body was found on April 16 in Washington County, Indiana, near Louisville.
Indiana State Police said the boy had never been reported missing, slowing the investigation of the case.
His mother, 37-year-old Dejaune Ludie Anderson, of Atlanta, is wanted on an arrest warrant on a murder charge. She also is charged with neglect of a dependent and obstruction of justice.
An autopsy found that the boy died from an electrolyte imbalance most likely due to gastroenteritis, or vomiting and diarrhea that led to dehydration, state police said in May. Investigators said the boy had died within a week prior to his body's discovery.
"No matter what progress is made, what happens in the case, we're still dealing with the tragic death of a precious young child," Indiana State Police Sgt. Carey Huls said.
Huls said Anderson remains at large, and police are seeking the public's help in finding her. He said Anderson has traveled to numerous locations, including Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco since police began their investigation last spring after her son's body was found.
Huls said "the physical evidence led to the suspects" in Jordan's death.
Another woman, 40-year-old Dawn Elaine Coleman, of Shreveport, Louisiana, also is facing neglect and obstruction charges. She was arrested on Oct. 19 in San Francisco.
Cairo was buried in June at a Salem, Indiana, cemetery about 35 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, after a memorial service where a police chaplain called the then-unidentified child an "unknown angel."
Huls said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation assisted Indiana authorities in contacting Jordan's father after investigators confirmed the boy's identity.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed Oct. 14 seeking the arrest warrant against Coleman, investigators found both Coleman's and Anderson's fingerprints on black plastic bags the boy's body had been placed inside within the suitcase.
The affidavit contains posts that Anderson allegedly made on her Facebook account, including posts on April 11 after she was released from jail in Louisville, Kentucky, on a shoplifting charge. In those posts, made using a vanity name, Anderson wrote: "Just got out of a jail mission" and "Yes had to do some healing and killing," the affidavit states.
A series of earlier Facebook posts Anderson allegedly made discuss exorcism, spells and other supernatural topics, with one posted on Feb. 19 mentioning "a very powerful demonic force from within my son," according to the affidavit.
Online court documents do not list an attorney who could speak on behalf of Coleman, who is expected to be transported to Indiana within about a month, Huls said.
Indiana's online court records do not reflect a murder charge against Anderson, and it is unclear if she has an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
The Washington County Prosecutor's office declined Wednesday to discuss the status of the murder charge against Anderson.
Huls said the prosecutor's office obtained an arrest warrant on a murder charge for Anderson from a judge Tuesday based on an affidavit that would be released once Anderson is in custody.
